Fated Mates - A Romance Novel Podcast
129 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 414 ratingsFated Mates is a romance novel podcast co-hosted by author Sarah MacLean and critic Jen Prokop. Weekly episodes include romance novel read-alongs and discussions of the work of the genre, highlighting the romance novel as a powerful tool in fighting patriarchy…with absolutely no kink shaming.
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Episodes
13: Can Eastern Promises Viggo Mortensen Get It? - The Professional (Game Makers)
May 15, 2019 04:00 - 1 hour - 73.8 MBThe Game Makers Series! Kresley’s first foray into contemporary begins with The Professional, which is some kind of book, y’all. Originally released in three parts over six weeks, The Professional stars Natalie, an American Ph.D. who happens to be the long lost daughter of a Russian mobster, and said mobster’s bodyguard, who can’t get enough of watching her in the tub. Or on his cellphone. Or tied up in a sex club. You’ll see!
12.5: Small Town Romance - Interstitial
May 08, 2019 04:00 - 59 minutes - 56.8 MBSmall towns! Jen (Chicago) and Sarah (NYC) do not understand them IRL, but we are talking about them in fiction this week! Listen to us talk about their genesis, what they represent, and why Romancelandia can’t get enough of them. Books by Sierra Simone, Vanessa North & Alisha Rai!
12: Do Not Let the Lykae into the Yankee Candle Store: MacRieve
May 01, 2019 04:00 - 1 hour - 84.1 MBMacRieve is here and so is friend of the pod, Sierra Simone! We’re so excited to talk about The Full Kresley, what makes erotic romance, The Simone Scale™ of taboo romance, why MacRieve is so tough to read, why Sarah thinks it might be Kresley’s best book, and why Chloe is such a badass. There’s a lot of hysterical laughter, and Sarah is preparing for legal action.
11.5: Sports Romance - Interstitial
April 24, 2019 04:00 - 53 minutes - 51.1 MBAre you a sports ball fan?! Do we have romances for you! We’ve got the brilliant Jenny Nordbak from The Wicked Wallflowers podcast back for a sports romance interstitial! Listen to us chat about why we love sports books, the alpha, competence porn and books by Kennedy Ryan, Tamsen Parker, and Naima Simone!
Periods, Pizza, and Point of View: Another AMA with Jen & Sarah
April 17, 2019 04:00 - 48 minutes - 48.7 MBJen and Sarah were together in the same city in the same room and just couldn’t pass up the chance to do a real-deal AMA while looking at each other’s faces! You asked, we answered…but get ready. There are some weird things in here (mainly said by Jen).
11: Woof. Hope Your Headphones Didn't Fall Out! - Lothaire
April 10, 2019 04:00 - 1 hour - 91.9 MBLothaire is here! We’re so excited, we don’t know what to do with ourselves, but FYI, this is a longer episode than usual -- so get ready! We're talking morality chain romance, how Lothaire is a pure ass but incredibly funny, and how Ellie is pretty much the only mate he could ever have. Also, we love Nix & Lothaire a lot.
10.5: Fake Engagement Romance - Interstitial
April 03, 2019 04:00 - 41 minutes - 40.4 MBThis one has to be a top-ten universal trope…were talking fake engagements! Listen to us chat about why ladies love a fantasy, the royal wedding, marriages of convenience, and books by Elle Kennedy, Talia Hibbert, Chelsea M. Cameron and Kate Clayborn!
10: Declan Chase is Kinda Trying: Dreams of a Dark Warrior
March 27, 2019 04:00 - 1 hour - 94.4 MBMr. Vivisection is here, and it’s a whole lot! Regin the Radiant is on Torture Island, and just her luck, the guy running the whole show is a berserker reincarnate who she’s loved in five earlier lifetimes. Declan Chase is a highly controversial Kresley hero, and Dreams of a Dark Warrior is a book Sarah and Jen always skip on the reread…but this week, we’re talking about it and *gasp!* we’re kind of on #TeamDeclan by the end?! UP IS DOWN! This episode, we’re digging into the way Kresley bui...
9.5: Food Romance Interstitial
March 20, 2019 04:00 - 42 minutes - 42.5 MBThis week, Adriana Herrera joins us again to talk food romances and Sarah is very excited. Adriana’s debut food romance, American Dreamer, is on shelves now. We talk about the book, the pull of the food romance novel, and why nourishment is sexy. Also, Sarah basically name checks her whole favorites shelf.
9: Torture Island!!! - Demon from the Dark
March 13, 2019 04:00 - 1 hour - 71 MBTorture Island is here and we could not be more excited! Demon from the Dark is Jen’s favorite book in the series, because she loves poor, broken Malkom, the vemon with a heart of gold, and his fated mate, Carrow, our second witch, whose powers come from other people’s joy. This episode, we’re digging into the worldbuilding of the second movement of IAD — Torture Island. We’re talking about innocence and how it is a great motivator, what saves a heroine from being unlikeable, why bathing is...
8.5: Gateways to Romance - Interstitial
March 06, 2019 05:00 - 50 minutes - 49.1 MBYou’re new to romance, where should you begin?! This week, Jen and Sarah are talking about good gateway romances, and we’ve got four that we think work for readers who’ve never dipped a toe, but are open to things from dukes to magic, the America West to kinky London and everything in between.
8: Triggering the Chastity Clause: Pleasure of a Dark Prince
February 27, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 90.2 MBWe’re back with the werewolves this week, with one of our very favorite books in the series, Pleasures of a Dark Prince, featuring Garreth MacRieve and Lucia the Huntress, a Valkyrie who is burning it all down. This episode, we’re discussing the way this book wraps up the first movement of IAD and preps readers for what’s to come (SPOILER: IT’S TORTURE ISLAND), we get into how the books are becoming more political, we update the lost-limb count, begin Lothaire-Watch, and dig into why it’s j...
7.5: Scotland Historical Romances - Interstitial
February 20, 2019 05:00 - 50 minutes - 49.4 MBIt’s Scotland week, Lads and Lassies! We’re talking about the great green jewel to the north of England, where the ladies are bold and the lairds are brawn, and we're all just wishing we could get wrapped in a plaid and cuddled through a cold Highland night.
7: Ghost Pepper Town: Warlord Wants Forever & Untouchable
February 13, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 70.8 MBWe’re tackling the novellas this week, and finishing up the Wroth Brother Quartet with The Warlord Wants Forever (Nikolai) & Untouchable (Murdoch), as well as their incredible Valkyrie mates. This episode, we’re talking about Myst’s weird chain, Danii’s loneliness, the responsibility of authors to readers, to themselves, to the text, and to literary history, and the way Untouchable hints at the enormous world that IAD is about to become.
6.5: Freewheeling with Joanna Shupe: Enemies to Lovers Romance
February 06, 2019 05:00 - 49 minutes - 49.7 MBThis week, we’re having a fun, far-reaching conversation with the wonderful Joanna Shupe—who loves Kiss of a Demon King a whole lot, immediately saw the echoes of one of the most famous old school romances inside it, and came to talk to us about enemies to lovers romances, but ended up telling us all about that time she spent a lot of time researching penetrative sex in carriages. We had a great time, and hope you do, too!
6: Reclaiming the Unlikeable Heroine: Kiss of a Demon King
January 30, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 73.9 MBOne of the best loved books in the IAD universe, this week we’re talking about Kiss of A Demon King, the completion of the Demonarchy Duology, starring Rydstrom, the deposed King of Rothkalina, and his fated mate, Sabine, the Queen of Illusions, which is an incredibly handy power. We’ve got a fabulous guest host this week, Jenny Nordbak from our sister romance podcast, The Wicked Wallflowers Club. Jenny is ride-or-die for Sabine, and she’s got a fabulous personal story about her relationshi...
5.5: Road Trip Romances - Interstitial
January 23, 2019 05:00 - 50 minutes - 51.7 MBWe’ve got Doritos, a stack of Cosmo sex quizzes and an epic mixtape ready to go — Sarah and Jen are talking about road trips and the inevitable smooching that comes with them in romance!
5: That Vessel Business: Dark Desires After Dusk
January 16, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 77.2 MBDEMONS ARE HERE! We’re talking Dark Desires After Dusk, starring Cadeon Woede (Prince of the Rage Demonarchy) and Holly, his human fated mate (SPOILER SHE ISN’T HUMAN, WHAT!). This one is the first in what we will end up calling the Demonarchy Duology — and we encourage you to read the next book in the series, Kiss of A Demon King as soon as you can after reading Dark Desires. Each book makes the other better. We’ll cover female rage, sex shaming, fast cars, food, feminism and…maybe a pot jo...
4.5: Curvy Heroines in Romance - Interstitial
January 09, 2019 05:00 - 23 minutes - 23.4 MBHappy New Year, Fated Matesers (This isn’t a great name for us. We need a better name—someone name us)! We’re back, it’s 2019, new year, new us, and we’re starting as we mean to go on with Curvy Heroines, because, in the words of Julie Murphy, Every Body is a Swimsuit Body. Jen and I love a curvy heroine, and the men who love them, and so curvy romances are OUR FAVES. Next week, we’re getting into Demons! We’ve met Cade, the prince of Rothkalina (the Rage Demonarchy) and his brother Rydstro...
4: A+, Would Risk Haunting: Dark Needs at Night's Edge
January 02, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 69 MBDon’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. Our next read (in two weeks) will be Dark Desires After Dusk — the beginning of the Rage-Demonarchy duology, featuring Cadeon Woede, who is forced to choose between familial loyalty and his human (or is she?!) fated mate, brilliant mathematician, Holly. Get ready for the read along at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or your local indie. Also, the A...
Horns, Claws, or Wolf Hologram: An AMA with Sarah & Jen
December 26, 2018 05:01 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBShow Notes - Update: Jen got THREE books for Christmas this year! These two from her brother, and her best friend gives perfect, #onbrand books. Sarah got Thomas Madden's Venice and the Great British Bake Off coloring book. Does that count as a book? - Sarah loves The Great British Baking Show, so you should watch. Or maybe you would just like to admire silver-fox, Paul Hollywood. -Here's a 1979 New York Times article about this new craze sweeping the nation: hand-raised pies. Everthing...
3.5: Holiday Romances: Interstitial
December 19, 2018 05:00 - 27 minutes - 27.7 MBOur official IAD reread will resume January 2nd, with Néomi (ghost) & Conrad (vampire) and we have so. many. feelings. SO MANY. Show Notes - In case you're curious, here's where Jen learned to properly pronounce Therese Beharrie's name. Therese wrote 2 Christmas books this year: A Wedding One Christmas and Her Festive Flirtation, and Jen liked them both. - Before Sunrise came out in 1995, a sequel Before Sunset in 2004, and a third Before Midnight in 2013. This New Yorker review is a perf...
3: A Great Lay or All the Knowledge in the World: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
December 12, 2018 05:01 - 1 hour - 68 MBShow Notes - Our special guest this week is romance author Adriana Herrera. American Dreamer, her debut novel with Carina Press, comes out in March of 2019. -Jen interviewed Adriana about domestic violence in romance for the Smart Bitches. - Jen and Sarah both loved The Opposite of You, a food truck romance by Rachel Higginson, and Sil at Book Riot made a list of food truck romances. - Kresley's historical trilogy is called The MacCarrick Brothers, and you can get all 3 bundled together...
2.5: Best Friend's Sibling Romances - Interstitial
December 05, 2018 05:00 - 41 minutes - 40.4 MBShow Notes - Kate Clayborn writes awesome books, but her romance think pieces at Frolic aren't too be missed. - There's nothing more hilarious than reviving old twitter threads, and in this one Kate and Talia Hibbert talk IAD. - The Game Maker series will get its own episodes, don't worry. Jen was thinking about saving this chastity belt article for then, but really, why wait? - Best of Luck was just named one of Amazon's Best Romance of December, which is as it should be. The second boo...
2: The Best Led Zeppelin Song is by Pink Floyd: No Rest for the Wicked
November 28, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 73 MBDon’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. Our next read (in two weeks) will be Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night — and the witches are coming! WDOAWN is the story of Bowen MacRieve (werewolf) and Mariketa the Awaited (witch)…and the book that really breaks open the wide world of IAD. We’ll be joined by the brilliant Adriana Herrera, and you won’t want to miss it. Get ready for the read along at ...
1.5: Escort Romances - Interstitial
November 21, 2018 05:00 - 22 minutes - 24.7 MBShow Notes - Sarah and Jen have both loved The Kiss Quotient. Sarah reviewed at for The Washington Post. Jen's been turning her friend Ernie into an occasional romance reader, and live-tweeted his read of TQK. - Escorted by Claire Kent, which is a pen name of Noelle Adams - Virginity is a construct -Romancing the Stone is an 80s movie classic. Kathleen Turner plays a romance writer on an adventure to retreive a missing emerald. -Curio and the Curio Vignettes by Cara McKenna - The Sma...
1: We're Gonna Come Back to Biting - A Hunger Like No Other
November 14, 2018 05:45 - 1 hour - 69 MBDon’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, a like would be awesome! Our next read (in two weeks) will be No Rest for the Wicked — the story of Sebastian Wroth (vampire) and Kaderin the Cold-Hearted (valkyrie), and the beginning of the IAD Amazing Race mini-arc! Show Notes - Why do people hate the word moist? - There really are catacombs below Paris, and they seem very creepy. - Co-ed is a more dated word than you'd expect. Ac...
.5: Rock Star Romance - Interstitial
November 07, 2018 05:00 - 20 minutes - 24 MB- Kristen Callihan — Idol (VIP Series #1) — Managed (VIP Series #2) —Fall (VIP Series #3) —Sarah’s first Kristen Callihan book, Evernight - Kylie Scott — Lick (Stage Dive Series #1) — Play (Stage Dive Series #2) — Lead (Stage Dive Series #3) — Deep (Stage Dive Series #4) - Anna Zabo — Syncopation (Twisted Wishes #1) — Counterpoint (Twisted Wishes #2) - JN Welsh — In Tune — Sarah’s first JN Welsh book, Gigolo All the Way - The book that made Sarah a Rock Star Romance reader, E...
Intro: A Wolf Without A Foot
October 23, 2018 18:30 - 42 minutes - 43.6 MBBuy A Hunger Like No Other at Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, or your local indie. Show Notes - Jen wrote about A Hunger Like No Other twice: a Throwback Thursday review, and a look at how the book covers changed over time. - A definition of the Fated Mates trope.Sarah wrote about fated mates and Kresley Cole on twitter. - What is paranormal romance? A big overview of PNRA thoughtful academic definition - Superhero movies after 9/11Superhero Movies have become an endless attempt to rewrite 9...